My 15 year old daughter was recently caught smoking cigarettes!
My beautiful daughter Haleigh, who is truly devoted to cheer, soccer and track, recently decided to experiment with cigarettes that her friends would offer her. Once I realized this, I went to the same extreme my husband’s dad did to him. and had her sit and smoke the carton that she had on her. that she said she had bought with her own hard earned money, ($53.00). I wanted her to realize now that there is absolutely no benefits to smoking. You see, I know first hand, as I became a smoker at the age of 17 and once I could legally buy them for myself, I became addicted. Luckily, I did realize that I did not like the way they made me feel, smell, my lack of tastes, etc. I became sick more and the cost was crazy. In fact, I quit smoking at the age of 20 when cigarettes became .75 a pack. (That surely tells my age.) It was definitely not easy to stop, and I wish my mother had stepped in when I first started. It was difficult to quit and stay off of them, and I do not want to see any child go through that. Haleigh made a video over this past weekend when she sat down outside with two of her friends. She smoked those cigarettes until it made her sick. It did not take long until she came to me and told me she does not want them anymore. Her friends who had tried smoking before also do not wish to go down that path. They both have parents that still smoke and have lived around that on a daily basis all of their lives. Some may say this was taken to an extreme, however, I love my children, and yes, if that is what it takes to make them realize the dangers, then it was well worth it.
Make an impact on your child and be involved everyday….before it is too late!